Bravo recalls competition with Ter Stegen: "It was a relationship of conflict"

It is no secret that the relationship between Claudio Bravo and Marc-Andre ter Stegen, two goalkeepers who arrived at Barcelona in the same summer, has never been smooth. The Chilean was the one who played the most in that unforgettable first season for Luis Enrique's side, as he was in charge of defending the 'Cules' goal in La Liga. The German was left with the other competitions and, despite winning the Champions League and the Copa dle Rey, he immediately pushed for a starting place in the regular competition.

Now, Claudio Bravo has used the opportunity of a chat with Marcelo Ramirez's podcast ‘El Legado’ to give more details of what day-to-day life was like with Ter Stegen. "What comes out of him was always like a relationship of conflict, of not having that degree of friendship, but it was the opposite. In the end you understand that when you have a player with more years of experience and a player who is just starting out, in his case, the statements of one or the other are totally different," he explained about the German's constant requests for more playing time.

“The role I played at that time as a 'big' player was generally to shut things down, not to keep getting in there if we had a high degree of competition. The situation, logically, they put you there and you can't relax, and whoever plays has to do well, because you're playing for a lot: a Champions League, La Liga... the demands were extremely high,” recalled the Viluco-born player, who also insisted that his relationship with the European goalkeeper was cordial.

The former 'Cule' defended his starting place and recalled that he had an almost impeccable start as a Barcelona player: “Ter Stegen realized that he couldn't take me off. In the first 7 games I played at Barca I made a record in La Liga of not conceding: 7 games without conceding goals.... How could they get me out! The first year I was champion, I won the 'Zamora', I don't know if they scored 15 or 16 goals....  it was like leaving my stamp: to get me out you have to do more things”.